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The Legacy of Edgar Albert Guest in this Generation

Introduction

Arguably, one of the most impressive aspects of any piece of literature is its timelessness.

Interesting literature can impact individuals of different generations and maintain their mode of

thinking when it comes to different matters that affect the society. Edgar Albert Guests poetry is

timeless because of this very fact (Chasar 5). Albert's work has the ability to transcend

generations and is still reflected in the 21st century as mostly depicted in popular culture. Guests

ideas about life, family, emotions, and so on are quite evident today. When it comes to such

facets in life, it is interesting to know that the ideas stipulated in Guests poems are still very

evident in the attitudes of this generation. Thus, the timelessness of Guests poems together with

their seemingly open niche for indifference characterize the attitude of todays generation when it

comes to language, gender roles, family, and motivational words, all of which constitute his

legacy.

The legacy of Edgar Albert Guest is depicted in the nature of gender roles in the home.

Indeed, the modern form of thinking that arises from aspects such as feminism advocates

equality when it comes to gender roles and the like. However, it is imperative to note that Edgar

wrote his poems in the dawn of the 19th century just when everything was experiencing change.

One constant in all of these changes, however, was the conventional way of thinking with regard

to what a man should and should not do. Guest helped his readers conclude that a man ought to

be handy in the home, where his manhood is defined by how well he can mend things that are
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broken. The same notion is very apparent in this generation, where men are expected to perform

these roles in spite of the society having advanced in a very high magnitude. Here, a woman still

expects or rather prefers that a man can make repairs around the house. The same notion is quite

prominent in popular media, where films from Hollywood communicate the ideals of manhood

as encompassing the ability to perform such duties around the house. Take, for instance, the

poem, father, in which the author gingerly describes all the things that his father can do. His

father is a very good organizer of events, knows how to talk to individuals, and can be quite

resourceful. However, when something breaks in the narrators house and is in need of repairs,

they have to call for outside help. One can note the change of tone in the narrators voice as he

describes how they usually outsource for workers. At first, as he talks about what his father can

do, he seems very excited and proud (Wallace 23). However, towards the end when he notes that

his father cannot perform repairs at home, he assumes a somber tone. The same illuminates the

disappointment that most women have today when it comes to men who cannot be handy in the

house. Thus, Guest helped to define the role and perception of manhood that was not just

applicable in the 19the century but still resonates in many relationships and homes today.

In addition to this, one aspect that is quite apparent in Guests poems is that he made use

of what many may consider being broken language. In this case, his poem always seemed to lack

the characteristics of proper language, which is something that the poet intentionally

incorporated into his works. His poems had constant misspellings and misplaced apostrophes

that seemed unorthodox at the time (Song 12). Even so, in many of the renditions of his works,

scholars posited that the poet intentionally chose to use unconventional language because he

associated the same with the rural or country people. He wanted to pass the message that more

often than not, it was never a mistake to be plain and imperfect because the same is what
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constituted aspects that were truly beautiful. His language thus became part of the populist

ideology that is quite common today. His language appealed to many individuals because it

provided a comforting feeling to individuals who dared to have a different way of thinking.

Individuals could dare to become indifferent to what was expected of them and not conform to

societal rules. For this reason, the same became part of popular culture that is reflected in the

music, film, and even political campaigns of today. Many singers use this poetic dialect in their

music as they try to appeal to a crowd that does not value rules and conventions. Political

campaigns usually drop Gs in their slogans while characters in movies are not afraid of

adopting countryside accents such as ones from Tennessee and beyond.

All of this started when Edgar Albert Guest came into the limelight with his poetry. Prior

to this, many people wrote literature in very strict language that endeavored to communicate the

ideals of the queens language. In essence, many writers came into the limelight at a time when

the likes of Shakespeare were still making headlines and their work, written in perfect

Elizabethan English, ruled the day (Weiss 49). Hence, individuals were attracted to this poet who

could surpass such expectations in his literature and introduce a new perspective of looking at

language in general and what it represents. It was also very appealing that Guest was from a very

conservative part of Britain; Birmingham. Hence, the same explains how this use of language

found its way into popular culture and is still evidenced today. Consider for a moment this line in

one of his most famous poems, Home. Here, the poet says, It takes a heap o livin in a house

t make it home. In this case, one can notice the explicit similarities between this language and

most lyrics in popular genres such as hip hop, R n b, and the like. Hence, one can infer that the

Edgar Albert Guests legacy lay in the kind of language that is liberating in nature, where

individuals are given a choice of employing creativity into their works of art such as music.
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Moreover, Guests sentimentalism and inspirational poetry is witnessed in the manner in

which individuals perceive life today. There is no arguing that Guest was probably the most

motivational poet who ever lived. While other poets talked about love, heartbreaks, war, and

race, Guest was more drawn to motivational poems that sought to encourage and implore

individuals to do great things. He was not a poet who dwelled in the ills of life, but, rather, chose

to look at it from a very positive perspective and encourage individuals to have the most

beautiful feelings and attitudes. The same sentimentalism is reflected in the society today. Most

people are drawn to inspirational messages and quotes, as well as being in constant need of

encouragement. It would be ignorant to ignore the magnitude to which individuals are drawn to

sad stories that tend to encourage them. At the same time, individuals today like anything that is

sentimental enough to encourage them and give them hope (Getz, 7). The same is illuminated so

many times in popular culture. Actors, motivational speakers, singers, and so on have come out

with sentimental life stories while some even quote from Guests poems so many times. For

example, Idris Elba, a popular actor, read the poem, It couldnt be done by Edgar Albert Guest

in when he won the Personality of the Year Award in 2012. He said he read the poem to

encourage all those who thought they could not make it in life and tell them that anything can be

done. The crowd was moved, and it was a very emotional reading of Guests poems. Hence, the

example highlights just how much todays society loves motivational words, sentimentalism, and

so on. Such messages that are quite similar to what was highlighted in the poems of Albert Guest

are in memes, talk shows, learning institutions, and so on.

Many would say that this attitude or need for encouragement emanates from the struggle

of the modern world. Many problems manifested themselves in the 1st century. There is so much

poverty, unemployment, violence, and such like atrocities in the society today. Therefore, many
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turn to avenues that offer encouragement so that they get the hope they need to push through.

The logic may explain the attitude towards stories of transformation and the like. The author of

such motivational literature was a guest, who showcased that being sentimental does not

constitute something that one should be ashamed of in the midst of many tribulations in life.

Therefore, he was a pioneer in developing poetry that reinforced this message, something that

was quite emotional in the midst of ongoing war and trauma. As many of his peers wrote about

the atrocities around them, Guest chose to concentrate on a message of positivity and initiated a

public liking of the same that is still present today.

Furthermore, one reverberating theme in the works of Guest is that of a family. In many

of his poems, he puts emphasis on family and the need for a relationship among members of the

same. For instance, in the poem, A boy and his dad, the poet talks of the experiences that a

father needs to have with his son. In his opinion, a father is supposed to teach his son many

things, including how to fish, perform manly duties, sportsmanship, and so on. There is the need

for string bonds between a father and a son, where the former transfers his immense knowledge

and experiences to the latter. Today, much of this relationship in the family unit receives a lot of

attention. Despite there being a high rate of divorce and aspects of a similar nature within the

family unit, there is still a sense of duty when it comes to relationships between parents and their

children. Fathers are still expected to teach their sons manly things to do while mothers still

have to bond with their daughters when it comes to aspects that are related to womanhood. The

same attitude transcends there a mere relationship between parents and their children and

encompasses the aspect of duty. For instance, from his poem, one can take note of the sense of

responsibility when it comes to family, especially with regard to the very specific things that a

father is expected to teach his son. The same does not mean that families today are not estranged
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and that parents are always in good terms with their children. Rather, it showcases that even in

the midst of challenges within the family, there are specific duties that members of the family

have to have towards one another. The current generation still abides by the same, where such

relationships are deemed to take precedence over everything else.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt to the fact that Edgar Albert Guest was one of the most

influential poets of history. The rationale, in this case, can be evidenced from the discussion

above that highlights most of his impacts in the society and the extent to which he fostered

certain ideas and perceptions. It is interesting that most of the attitudes and ideologies that

individuals have today have either been strengthened by his poetry or shaped by the same. From

perceptions on sentimental and motivational literature to the nature of language in the society

today, it is quite apparent that Guests words still hold a lot of weight in this generation. Perhaps

this is the most intriguing fact about his poetry, given that there are generational differences

between his past and present followers, yet their attitudes towards certain aspects of life such as

family are explicitly similar.

Works Cited

Chasar, Mike. Everyday Reading: Poetry and Popular Culture in Modern America. Columbia

University Press, 2012.

Getz, Lowell L. "Once I Was A Home." (2013).

Song, Zijiang. "Translation, Cultural Politics, and Poetic Form: A Comparative Study of the

Translation of Modernist Poetry in Les Contemporains (193235) and Literary Currents

(195659)." Translation and Academic Journals. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2015. 97-116.

Wallace, Edgar. People-A Short Autobiography. Read Books Ltd, 2014.

Weiss, Theodore Russell, and Ren Weiss, eds. Contemporary Poetry: A Retrospective from the"

Quarterly Review of Literature". Princeton University Press, 2015.